Wyoming Administrative Code
Agency 053 - Workforce Services, Department of
Sub-Agency 0011 - OSHA - Oil & Gas Well Drilling
Chapter 7 - OPERATIONS
Section 7-3 - Blowout Equipment

(i) Blowout prevention equipment in all drilling operations shall be:

(ii) All blowout preventers, choke line and manifold shall be installed above ground level. Casing heads and optional spools may be installed below ground level provided they are visible and accessible.

(iii) All pipe fittings and valves placed on, or connected with a blowout preventer, well casing, casing head, or the drill pipe or tubing, shall be of a type suitable for the purpose for which they are to be used and adequate to withstand the pressure which may be encountered.

(iv) All ram type blowout preventers and related equipment, including casing, shall be tested to the full working pressure rating of said equipment upon installation, provided that components need not be tested to levels higher than the lowest working pressure rated component. Annular type blowout preventers shall be tested in conformance with the manufacturer's published recommendations. If, for any reason, a pressure seal in the assembly is disassembled, a test to a full working pressure rating of that seal shall be conducted prior to the resumption of any drilling operation. In addition to the initial pressure tests, ram type preventers shall be checked for physical operation each trip and all components, again with exception of the annular type blowout preventer, tested monthly to at least fifty percent (50%) of the rated pressure of the blowout preventer equipment and/or to the maximum anticipated pressure of the blowout preventer equipment and/or to the maximum anticipated pressure to be contained at the surface, whichever is greater.

(v) The working pressure rating of all blowout preventers and related equipment shall equal or exceed the maximum anticipated pressure to be contained at the surface.

(vi) Studs on all well head and blowout preventer flanges shall he checked weekly for tightness. Where locking screws are provided on blowout preventers, hand wheels shall be kept installed and operational, and readily accessible. The entire blowout preventer and well head assembly shall be kept reasonably clean of mud and ice.

(vii) A drillstem safety valve shall be available on the rig floor at all times.

(viii) While a well is being drilled, tested, completed or reconditioned:

(ix) All tests shall be reported with full particulars on the daily drilling 1og book, and in the case of a pressure test, the pressure applied and the duration shall be recorded.

(x) One (1) or more employees employed on the rig shall have an adequate understanding of, and be able to operate, the blowout preventer system. At least one (1) person who is trained in blowout prevention and well control procedures shall be on the well site. Blowout preventer controls shall be readily accessible on the floor and/or at least 20 feet from the well bore and outside the substructure.

(xi) BOP equipment installed on wells in which formation pressures to be encountered are abnormal or unknown shall consist of a double-gate, hydraulically operated preventer with pipe and blind rams or two (2) single-ram type preventers, one (1) equipped with pipe rams, the other with blind rams and an annular type preventer. In addition, upper and lower kelly cocks, pit level indicators with alarms and/or flow sensors with alarms, and surface facilities to handle pressure kicks shall be installed prior to drilling any formation with known abnormal pressure. Accumulators shall maintain a pressure capacity reserve at all times to provide for operation of the hydraulic preventer and valves with no outside source. Areas in which abnormal pressures are likely to be encountered are those as defined by the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission's staff and posted on a map to be available in the State Oil and Gas supervisor's office. This map, to be updated as information becomes available, will also segregate, vertically, formations where abnormal pressures are likely to be encountered.